Seattle Mystery Bookshop

Signed Fuminori Nakamura' The Thief

Fuminori Nakamura - The Thief

The trade paperback is signed & in stock now! 

The Thief is a seasoned pickpocket. Anonymous in his tailored suit, he weaves in and out of Tokyo crowds, stealing wallets from strangers so smoothly sometimes he doesn’t even remember the snatch. Most people are just a blur to him, nameless faces from whom he chooses his victims. He has no family, no friends, no connections.... But he does have a past, which finally catches up with him when Ishikawa, his first partner, reappears in his life, and offers him a job he can’t refuse. It’s an easy job: tie up an old rich man, steal the contents of the safe. No one gets hurt. Only the day after the job does he learn that the old man was a prominent politician, and that he was brutally killed after the robbery. And now the Thief is caught in a tangle even he might not be able to escape.

An Interesting Fact....

Did you know that Craig Johnson’s Longmire Series is seriously popular in France? Well they are!

Here is a video interview with Craig from the land of cheese, wine, baguettes and Frenchmen! The first few seconds is an introduction in French, however Craig answers in English with some interesting tid bits about his books!

 

 

Saturday July 13^th at Noon - Craig Johnson signs A Serpent’s Tooth

A Mormon boy wanders into the homecoming festivities asking for help in finding his mother. Sheriff Longmire begins to look for answers and stumbles onto an interstate polygamy group that is armed to the teeth and planning something ugly.

He will be on hand to sign books and speak informally to his fans. All we ask is you purchase one of his new books at our store, so we can continue to host these great events! 

Happy Birthday to the Nation's Library

Happy Birthday to the Library of Congress, founded on April 24, 1800 when President John Adams signed the Congressional Act that created it. $5,000 was alotted for the collection. 740 books and 3 maps were ordered from England specifically to start the collection which was intended for use of the elected officials. Originally, it was housed in the US Capitol.

Ironically, during the War of 1812, the British burned the collection when they set fire to the Capitol Building. To reconstitute the Library, Thomas Jefferson sold his personal collection of 6,487 volumes to the nation. Nice move, Tom.

Here's a string of shots of the permanet library's construction,
 from July 8, 1888 to May 15, 1894.

The Library currently hold 151,785,778 items - books, maps, "incunabula (books printed before 1500), monographs and serials, music, bound newspapers, pamphlets, technical reports, and other printed material, and 109,029,796 items in the nonclassified (special) collections".

for more information and history, see the wikipedia page on the Library of Congress

Together, We Can Save the Independent Bookstores

The following is a post by William Kent Krueger which he posted on his own blog today, April 22nd. He kindly gave us permission to repost it.

When I was a kid, every town had a bookstore. An independent bookstore. Some towns had several. They were as ubiquitous as local drugstores with soda fountains and as important as any other element to the life of a community. It’s not like that now. Our local, independently owned bookstores are an endangered species. They’re the victims of big chains and of Amazon, yes. But they’re also endangered because of our own lethargy and our insensitivity to both the necessity and the importance of these very valuable resources.

Borders has gone the way of the dodo bird. If what we hear is true, Barnes and Noble is on the ropes. And when that chain is gone, know who’s left? Amazon. The big faceless corporation for whom books are simply another commodity and each of us is simply a revenue source.

Buying from independents is in our own best interest. It assures that no one large entity will control what’s available to us as readers. Freedom—and it does come down to this—is all about choice.

Most of the signings I do are at independents. I’ll be signing on Friday at a wonderful small bookstore in Hudson, Wisconsin, called Chapter2Books. Like most independents, they walk a fine line between red ink and black. If you live in the area, I would consider it a personal favor if you came and experienced this lovely shop and began to do your book buying there. Here’s a link to a great blog about these folks and their plight.

Thanks for listening. And remember: Think globally. Shop locally.

Thanks, Kent, for your efforts on behalf of us little guys!

Carl Hiaasen is Coming!

Tues, June 25, 1-2pm, Carl Hiaasen signs Bad Monkey (June, Knopf hc, $26.95). Well, as usual, there really is no way to succinctly note a Hiaasen plot and this one is no different: a cop on Health Inspector duties who is hoping to get hired by the Key West department, a kinky medical examiner, a human arm in the freezer and the ‘twitchy’ widow of the owner, a vivacious voodoo witch, an idiotic and greedy developer and - oh yeah - a devious, talented and troublesome monkey. Sounds like the expected and standard Hiaasenian lunacy!

[Please note: Carl will be here just one hour. We’ll have lots of reserves and we cannot guarantee that all of your older copies can all be signed. If you do want to get some signed, figure out ahead of time which ones are the most important to be signed. And, of course, you must buy the new book here in order to get any older copies signed. Amazing how many people don’t understand that courtesy…]

RESERVE YOUR SIGNED COPY NOW!

Guess Who Was Here!

Amanda Quick! 

And Don't Forget She Will Be In The Shop On....

Tuesday April 23rd at Noon – Amanda Quick signs The Mystery Woman

  Beatrice Lockwood, one of the intrepid ladies of Lantern Street, is in the middle of a case when her past comes back to haunt her. Joshua North, a former spy for the Crown, has come out of a self-imposed retirement after a disastrous case that left him scarred and forced to use a cane. He is hunting the villain who is blackmailing his sister.

The trail leads him to Beatrice who is his chief suspect. But when he realizes that she is not the blackmailer, they set out to find the real extortionist. Passion flares between them as they dodge a professional assassin.

SMB EXCLUSIVE!

All books will feature a commemorative stamp, the Egyptian God Anubis, on the title page next to Amanda's signature. This only available to those who purchase the book thru our shop!

Interesting ideas

I'm frequently asked where I get my ideas.

One thing that happens a lot is that I get an idea that excites me but it's not big enough for a book so I stick it in my idea file. Months later I get a similar idea. Then, some time in the future, I realize that I can stick the seemingly unconnected ideas together and I'll have a whole book. That happened with Sleight of Hand, my latest thriller.

I always wanted to write a book where the bad guy is a criminal defense attorney who kills witnesses to win his cases. I also love The Maltese Falcon. In Sleight of Hand I bring back Dana Cutler, the popular star of my Washington Trilogy (Executive Privilege, Supreme Justice, and Capitol Murder) in her own book. Dana is approached by a mysterious Frenchwoman who wants her to travel across the country in search of a gold, jewel encrusted scepter that was owned by the Sultan who conquered Constantinople in the 1400s. During her quest for the mysterious object she meets many odd characters who are right out of The Maltese Falcon, and, you guessed it, there is more to her quest than meets the eye.

Back in Washington, D.C.. chrismatic criminal defense lawyer Charles Benedict, an amateur magician and hit man for the Russian mob, murders a prosecutor then uses magic illusion and sleight of hand to frame her multimillionaire huband for the crime. The two cases dobn't appear to have anything to do with each other, but I promise you, they do. 

 Phil Margolin

SPECTRE Making Moves

We've known for a long time that Amazon - er, um - SPECTRE is branching into other venues.

Did you know that SPECTRE got the CIA contract to construct cloud system? Yep. Let your conspiracy theories run rampant for a moment. Go ahead - we'll wait.

But that's not all they're up to.

SPECTRE buying Goodreads is another development to roil your stomach. It certainly has ours.

Back in Feb 2008, they took control of Shelfari. Remember them? It was like Goodreads in that it's a social network for readers. You don’t remember them either? It is still active but we never hear about it. Goodreads has been one of the online places – perhaps the most prominent – that allowed readers to find objective reviews. After all, as independent bookshops have been killed off around the country, readers still need some way to find new books worth reading. There’s a well documented history of monkeybusiness with Amazon’s (sorry, SPECTRE) reviews. Goodreads has become a trusted alternative, and now, within a couple of months, they’ll cease to be an independent voice and will part of SPECTRE. Will they go the way of Shelfari in a few years?

Here's a joint interview with a representative from SPECTRE and Goodreads on their view of the merger and future plans.

Here’s a quote that talks about another facet of the deal:

“Privacy of reader information is viewed as a sacred trust by booksellers and librarians.... No librarian or bookseller wants to give the government or anyone else access to your private information. It's in our DNA. We're a community center and a community resource. You want to be able to come in and talk to us about books. You don't want us to gossip about your reading habits to the next guy who comes in, whether that guy is your neighbor or from the FBI. We don't do it. We won't do it.

"When we remember what you like, it's in service of a personal relationship. It's not 'data' to 'exploit.' This is a profession with professional standards.... At your next book club meeting, picture me sitting quietly in the corner, taking notes on your preferences. Imagine the next day you get an e-mail from me trying to sell you a new grill--or a book--or accessories for your Glock. That's the Amazon/Goodreads deal. It's appalling.... That's not the world we want to live in. That's the world we're fighting against, every day we open our bookshops and libraries to the public. Join us. You are not data."

That was from Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, NH, in their letter to their customers.

Our stand regarding SPECTRE is old news by now, so you've probably been waiting for us to blow up all over this.

Sorry.

We're not resigned, and we're not accepting it, but we're also not howling about it. What's the point? What we have done is to pull all our reviews from Goodreads. We don't want SPECTRE to benefit from our work. We review for our customers, to let you know about good books we've read. We sincerely hope you'll buy them from us. That way, we all win.

But we won't help SPECTRE, so we're pulling our reviews. They're all available on our website, and we're creating a new Tumblr blog (to go along with the other two we have) dedicated to nothing but our reviews, and we'll put our past reviews up there, so you'll always be able to find them if you like. But we can't continue supporting Goodreads, and we don't see anything out there with nearly their clout. Yet.

If you find something that is independent and reliable and trusted, please do let us know!

Etiquette and Economics

We're very lucky. We have great authors who support us, and our customer base is wonderful.

Sometimes,though, people just don't understand the realities of signings and all they entail. We've got a link on our blog, Signing Etiquette, but let us walk you through some of the issues. We've heard from a little birdie that there was a woman who took some offense at our signing with Jacqueline Winspear. We don't know this for certain because she didn't address us personally, but we're going to take what we've been told at face value. Besides, there might be others out there who have the same questions.

 "I called the bookstore before Jacqueline Winspear was to appear today and asked if we needed tickets to get in to see her, as they sometimes do that at the U Bookstore for famed authors."

We don't sell tickets. It's not the way we work, and it would pose problems for us logistically. We don't have formal readings; we're a meet-and-greet sort of shop. But we do expect you to buy the book from us rather than bringing in a book you've purchased elsewhere. Here's why:

When a publisher pays the bills to send an author around the country, they're doing it to help the hosting bookshop sell their books. After the signing, the publicity department will call to ask how many copies sold. We report how many sold, how many were reserved for mail orders or later pick-up and those numbers can affect whether we get that author back in the shop in the future or any of that publisher's other authors in to sign. And why should you be able to get books that you bought somewhere else get signed in our shop? You can't buy a discount ticket for a movie in one theater and expect a different theater to accept it. University Books sells tickets because they don't want people to bring in books bought elsewhere (such as Amazon) to get signed at their author events. We'd rather not have to charge you to visit an author, especially when there's no formal reading, but in return, we do expect you to step up to the plate and do your part. Or, look at it this way: buying the new book IS your ticket to the signing.

For example, we fielded a call from a lady who had purchased the book on her Kindle and wanted to come in to meet Jackie. We understand completely, but what you've got to realize is that unless there are book sales to go along with the appearances, the appearances will stop. It's expensive to tour an author; purchasing the physical book at the signing is a show of support for us and the author - and the publisher. We thank you for your continued support!

It's especially important to buy the new one from the hosting shop if you're bringing back stock to be signed. It's only polite, after all. The author is doing you a favor by signing your older books; they don't have to. In fact, there are several authors who refuse and will only sign the current book. There are those who will sign a limited number of back stock for you, perhaps two older books for one new one. This is completely the author's prerogative and we have absolutely no say in the matter. Some authors refuse to inscribe and will only sign. Again, it's the author's choice.

Which leads us to another issue that was mentioned in the posting:

"But when I got to the store, this witch was hovering over the author and said, loudly, "It is bookstore protocol that you buy her books from us before you get any signed. And she can only sign one because her wrist is tired" There were like 4 people in the whole freakin' store, how tired could her wrist be? I mean COME ON." 

Setting aside the name-calling (we can't please everyone, nor do we expect to; some people just rub others the wrong way and that's the way it is), actually, the instructions were not to ask for inscriptions. Jackie was more than willing to sign all her books. However, a half hour before she arrived, Jackie called to explain that between a recent elbow injury and previous signings, her wrist and hand were tired and sore, and that she would only be signing books, not inscribing them. During the course of the signing, she discussed her carpel tunnel issue with the fans there, and apologized for not being able to do what she normally does, but she was under doctor's orders to do less. She didn't want to make the announcements, so she asked us to, and we're more than happy to comply.

"Still, I don't know if I will ever darken their doorstep again."

It's never nice to lose a customer -- but we stand behind our practices. And our staff.

~ the Crew

 

Oh The Humanity!

Massacre!

What did these poor Cheez-It's do to deserve this wasteful and tragic end?

The great question of our day…

CRIME AUTHOR EARL EMERSON HONORED BY NORTHWEST MYSTERY WRITERS

Earl Emerson, whose novels featuring wisecracking Seattle private eye Thomas Black helped usher in a golden era of Pacific Northwest crime fiction, is being honored by the Mystery Writers of America-Northwest Chapter with its annual Willo Davis Roberts Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Emerson, 64, will receive his award at an April 20 ceremony in Bellevue.

“I know I've had a lot of good luck and some bad, and that the good has mostly overwhelmed the bad,” Emerson said. “I feel very fortunate to be writing in an area that supports its local writers to the extent the Northwest does.”

Emerson, a North Bend resident who retired in 2010 after a 32-year career with the Seattle Fire Department, has published 23 novels, beginning with 1985’s The Rainy City, the first Thomas Black tale. His oeuvre includes twelve Black novels and five novels featuring investigating firefighter Mac Fontana, along with six standalone thrillers. One of his Black novels, Poverty Bay, was honored in 1986 by the Private Eye Writers of America with its Shamus Award as the best paperback original of the year.

Emerson sold his first novel in 1983, at a time several other Northwest crime-fiction notables were emerging onto the Seattle literary landscape. Some of his more successful contemporaries include J.A. Jance, Mary Daheim, Aaron Elkins and Ridley Pearson.

“Earl Emerson has made more than a mark on the Northwest crime-fiction landscape; he IS the Northwest crime fiction landscape,” said Elkins, a Sequim resident best known for his mysteries featuring forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver. “Sure, we have an amazing group of terrific mystery writers in this corner of the country, but for the rest of us this just happens to be the place we live in and sometimes write about. Earl’s lean muscular (and often very funny) prose feels like the Pacific Northwest in a way that no one else’s does. I find his writing a continuing source of inspiration and admiration.”

Added Bill Farley, founder of Seattle Mystery Bookshop: “Earl Emerson's Thomas Black and Mac Fontana novels were major contributors to Seattle becoming recognized as a major venue for crime fiction. His Mac Fontana books show Earl's emotional commitment to firefighting; his Thomas Black character gives a wholesomeness to the private detective business as few other authors have done. A private detective can be clean-cut. Who knew? As a reader and a bookseller, I’m indebted to Earl.”

Emerson hasn’t put out a new novel since 2009, but says he has completed two new Thomas Black tales as well as a thriller, and is shopping for a publisher. In the meantime, he has reacquired the rights to most of his work and has slowly been re-releasing them as budget-priced e-books. Of the turbulence in book publishing, Emerson says: “Authors are walking across a stream of turtles, and you’re just jumping from one to one, hoping to hit a rock. There is so much luck involved.” But though he’s retired from firefighting, Emerson makes it clear that he’s nowhere near done as a writer: “The books are coming faster, now that I have the time and I’m not exhausted when I get home from a twenty-four-hour shift at work.”

About the Willo Award: Every year the board selects a winner based on strong ties to the Pacific Northwest and a distinguished body of work in the mystery/true crime publishing field as either an author, bookseller, editor or agent. It is named in honor of Northwest Chapter stalwart (and two-time Edgar Award winner) Willo Davis Roberts, who passed away in 2004.

“It is a pleasure to award this year’s Willo to the pride of North Bend, Earl Emerson,” said Brian Thornton, MWA-Northwest president. “In many ways Earl has helped define the Northwest in crime fiction during his long run of success, and he has definitely left his stamp on the genre with unforgettable characters such as Thomas Black and Mac Fontana.”

Past Willo winners include J.A. Jance, Portland legal-thriller author Phillip Margolin, and Seattle Mystery Bookshop founder Bill Farley.

###

For immediate release Contact: Jim Thomsen  at (206) 714-0931 or [email protected]

Camilla Lackberg

 

Camilla Lackberg - The Ice Princess

Book - New / Dust Jacket - New

New York: Pegasus, 2010.   First American edition.

Signed on the title page. DJ in a mylar cover.

 

 

 

Camilla Lackberg - The Preacher

Book - New / Dust Jacket - New

New York: Pegasus Books, 2011.  First American edition.

Signed and dated on the title page. 2nd in the series. DJ in a mylar cover.

 

To see our selection of Camilla's eBooks, click here.

March YA / Kids Books Bestsellers

March TP Bestsellers

1 – Lucretia Grindle, Villa Triste, Grand Central

2 - tie

Peter Spiegelman, Thick as Thieves, Vintage

Andrea Camilleri, Dance of the Seagull, Penguin

4 – Ernest Cline, Ready Player One, Broadway

5 – tie

Jim Lynch, Truth Like the Sun, Vintage

Fred Vargus, The Chalk Circle Man, Penguin

Alexander McCall Smith, The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection, Anchor

Jussi Adler-Olsen, The Keeper of Lost Causes, Plume

9 – tie

Urban Waite, The Terror of Living, Back Bay

Peggy Blair, The Beggar’s Opera, Pintail

James Thompson, Snow Angels, Berkley

Lyndsay Fave, The Gods of Gotham, Berkley

Chris Pavone, The Expats, Broadway

Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Grave, Mira

Lars Keplar, The Nightmare, Picador

Yrsa Sigurdottir, The Day is Dark, Minotaur

A.J. Kazinski, The Last Good Man, Scribner

Cara Black, Murder in the Marais, Soho

March Bestselling Mass Markets

1. Victoria Abbott, THE CHRISTIE CURSE, Berkley

2. Laura Childs, AGONY OF THE LEAVES, Berkley

Tied For 3.

Mary Lou Kirwin, KILLER LIBRARIAN, Pocket

Ridley Pearson, THE RISK AGENT, Jove

Tied For 5.

Nancy Atherton, AUNT DIMITY'S DEATH, Penguin

Patricia Briggs, FAIR GAME, Ace

Harlan Coben, STAY CLOSE, Signet

Jo Nesbo, REDBREAST, Harper

Carol O'Connell, MALLORY'S ORACLE, Jove

Louise Penny, STILL LIFE, St. Martin

March Hardback Bestsellers!

1. Roger Hobbs, GHOSTMAN, Knopf - Signed Copies Available

2. Cara Black, MURDER BELOW MONTPARNASSE, Soho - Signed Copies Available

3. Thomas Perry, THE BOYFRIEND, Mysterious Press - Signed Copies Available

4. Patricia Briggs - FROST BURNED, Ace - Signed Copies Available

5. Randy Wayne White, NIGHT MOVES, Putnam

6. CJ Box, BREAKING POINT, Putnam

7. Harlan Coben, SIX YEARS, Dutton

8. Dana Stabenow, BAD BLOOD, Minotaur - Signed Copies Available

9. William Kent Krueger, ORDINARY GRACE, Atria

Tied for 10.

Lawrence Block, HIT ME, Mulholland - Signed Copies Available

Mary Daheim, THE ALPINE XANADU, Ballantine - Signed Copies Available

Larry Block aka Jill Emerson...

 

Big News to Start April!

As you know, these are trying times for indie bookshops, and as wonderful as our customer and author base is, we're still hit by the uncertainty in publishing and the economy. We're told repeatedly that the only way to survive is to diversify. We have heard and we have listened and we have taken that advice to heart.

Therefore, with our 23rd birthday, on July 1st, we intend to change our business model. And we're going to need your help. We've started a Kickstarter campaign because big changes are going to be implemented.

Fortunately for us, new Washington laws allow us to diversify in a most agreeable manner. We have decided to install an Espresso Book machine, and a Marijuana and Munchies Bar. We’re calling it a conversion to "Cold Blooded Murders and High Crimes".

We have sources who have guaranteed us specialized blends unique just to us and all are promised to be Poe-tent: The “Mike Hammer” is intense and fast-acting, to be used only by the most experienced user. Someone new to the pot scene might want to start off with “Miss Marple”, a cozy and mellow blend. Good for knitting, working on a puzzle or walking in circles. For those who are more fun-loving, the “NicknNora” has been guaranteed to have you chuckling to yourself and acting screwball. The “Bake Yer Street Special” promises to inspire bursts of activity followed by deep introspection. Need something for those trying times with the in-laws? We’ll be recommending a little “MarLow” -it’ll keep your sarcastic sense of humor sharp while taking the edge off any contention. The “Millar Bars” will be meditative, the “Fredric Brownies” will be intense and weird, the “Lord Peter” pies will be whimsical and the “Busted Flush” shakes will be just the ticket on a hot summer’s day.

And because we do care about you, our fine customers, we will provide you with a fully stocked menu filled with snacks (sorry – nothing with nuts), soft drinks, tea, coffee and, of course, espresso, which leads us to the other part of our diversification.

The renovations and space for this bar will be extensive and will deeply affect the number of books we can carry, hence the Espresso Book machine. It isn't a small machine but will fit nicely at the back of the shop. While it's true that the machine would take up most of the rest of our available space, you wouldn't have to worry about finding that special title. All you'd have to do is request it, and we can print out whatever book you want while you wait. In just a few short minutes, the title you've been looking for will be in your hands. It's also the perfect answer to getting you those out of print titles!

And in the meantime, you can pass an agreeable bit of time at our High Court of Appealing Goodies Bar, blissfully baked. During the dry weather, you can toast yourself in our outdoor hammocks while your book is printed and bound. A blunt and a blintz and a book!

This is where you come in. These renovations are going to be spendy, and we can't do it alone, so we've started a Kickstarter campaign to get things underway. Our target goal is $1,000,020.13, and with that, we'll be able to make all the changes necessary to survive these turbulent times.

You will contribute, won't you?

You'd be a fool not to!